Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Fir-Tree: the old tree is burned, and a new tale begins

Tests: 3 of 12 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 13 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 1630 of the books course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose.

Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.

Test 1 · ★ · wrong ✗

So where'd the tree hide all winter, innit?

1. Under the old stairs — ← Mova's choice · score 6
2. In the shed — score 5
3. In the attic — score 5
4. Up in the lumber-room — ✓ the right answer · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask where. It chose option 1 with score 6, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 518, line 17: «Old word "dissimulation": hiding your true feelings and pretending. Today we say "pretending" or "putting on an act".», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «hide» (+3); the same doer «old word» (+2); the same property (+1). The right option, 4, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗

Bro, what did the mice keep on wanting to know?

1. About the candles and the bacon — ← Mova's choice · score -1
2. All about the storeroom, the cheese, and the bacon hanging from the rafters — no support
3. All about the storeroom and cheese — ✓ the right answer · score -1
4. Everything about the storeroom and the cheese and the tallow candles in the cellar — score -1

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score -1, tied with another option at -1 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1594, line 16: «What? The Lion swims with the Woodman holding "the tip of my tail" and pulls the raft to the shore.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «hold» (+1). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-2). The right option, 3, scored -1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗

Like, what did the rats reckon of the tree's story?

1. That it was a poor story — ✓ the right answer · score -2
2. Too long — ← Mova's choice · score 1
3. That it was quite a sad tale — score -5
4. Dull — score 1

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 1, tied with another option at 1 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 366, line 2: «A vain Ass carries a sacred Image, thinks the bowing crowds are honoring him, and gets beaten with a stick by his driver.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «think» (+1). The right option, 1, scored -2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗

Mate, who nicked the golden star off the tree?

1. The youngest of the children, who was standing on a chair by the lamp — score 2
2. One of the older boys — score 3
3. One of the little ones — ✓ the right answer · score 3
4. The smith's eldest girl — ← Mova's choice · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 4, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1594, line 11: «What? Dorothy eats ripe fruit from a tree, having "eaten nothing but nuts all day."», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: a different action (counts against) (+2); the same place «tree» (+1); it fills the role the question asks for (+1); a different thing acted on (counts against) (+1). Against it: the same doer «dorothy» (-1). The right option, 3, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★ · right ✓

Proper skint, was Basmus, wasn't he, fam?

1. Yeah, a poor smith with loads of kids — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 1
2. Yeah, a poor smith with loads of kids and barely any money to feed them all year — no support
3. Yeah, a poor fisher with some kids — no support
4. Yeah, a rich merchant with no kids — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1630, line 5: «Then a new tale starts: poor smith Basmus comes home from the sea, and years later a mermaid's son arrives at his forge.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same property (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★ · wrong ✗

Wot happened to the tree in the end, bruv?

1. It was thrown out — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It was given away — no support
3. It was tossed in the yard bin — no support
4. It got burnt in the brew-house — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗

Quick one, how long was Basmus lost at sea, like?

1. Three days — ✓ the right answer · score 3
2. Four days — score 3
3. Two days — score 3
4. Three weeks — ← Mova's choice · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 4 with score 5, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 1531, line 4: «He cuts off the Norka's head with a sword of steel while the monster sleeps on the blue sea.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «monster» (+3); the same place «blue sea» (+2). The right option, 1, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗

Innit true Humpty Dumpty fell downstairs and still got a princess?

1. Nah, that's the tale the mice know — score 3
2. Yeah, that's the story the tree knows — ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. Yeah, that's the story the rats tell — ← Mova's choice · score 4
4. Yeah, that's the story the tree knows best, and it always ends with the princess — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 4, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 826, line 14: «The rats call the story "not a pretty story at all" and say, "Many thanks to you then", before they go.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «say» (+2); the same doer «rats» (+2). The right option, 2, scored 3. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★ · right ✓

Bruv, what was the tree dreaming it would marry?

1. A princess — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. A king — no support
3. A dairymaid — no support
4. A shepherdess — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗

Wait, why did the kids go Piff puff bang, yeah?

1. Cos each sigh of the tree sounded just like a pistol shot going off in the room — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Cos each sigh sounded like a gun — no support
3. Cos every sigh the tree gave out sounded exactly like a loud pistol shot from the yard — no support
4. Cos each sigh sounded like a shot — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★ · right ✓

So what did the tree tell the mice about Christmas Eve?

1. That it was decked with sweet-meats and tapers — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 1
2. That it was dressed with cakes and candles — score 1
3. That it was hung with sweets and lanterns — score -2
4. That it had candles — score -6

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 1, tied with another option at 1 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1461, line 13: «The Princess is moved by Frisk's words, and "without saying a word to anyone went straight to the tower".», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same circumstance (+2). Against it: the same doer «words» (-1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★ · wrong ✗

Like, where did the mermaid's son turn up, fam?

1. At the harbour — ← Mova's choice · score 5
2. At the mill, with a letter — score 5
3. At the smith's forge, with a message — ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. At the tavern, with a message — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask where. It chose option 1 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1274, line 7: «The people fold their teepees so quietly that they leave "no sign of the village save heaps of dead ashes."», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «fold» (+3); the same doer «people» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

With reference to the passage, in which room was the fir-tree kept during the winter months?

1. In the kitchen loft — ← Mova's choice · score 11
2. In the lumber-room — ✓ the right answer · score 11
3. In the cellar — score 11
4. In the storeroom — score 11

Why: It took the question to ask where. It chose option 1 with score 11, tied with another option at 11 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1558, line 16: «Old word: "Gammer" was an old word for an old woman, like grandmother; "Gaffer" was an old word for an old man.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+5); the same thing acted on «old word» (+4); the same doer «old word» (+2). The right option, 2, scored 11. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

With reference to the passage, what did the rats say of the tree's story when they departed?

1. That it was very dull indeed — no support
2. That it was a very poor story — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. That it was a very poor story and they had never heard such nonsense before — ← Mova's choice · score 3
4. A poor tale — score -1

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 3, against -1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 33, line 2: «Summer ends. Frost and mud keep them indoors, the river races past too fast for boating, and the Rat sleeps a lot and writes poems by the fire. The animals tel…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: a different action (counts against) (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+1); a different thing acted on (counts against) (+1). Against it: the same doer «animals» (-1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓

With reference to the passage, by what means was the fir-tree finally reduced to fuel?

1. It was split by the farmhand's axe — score 3
2. It was cut into small pieces by a servant and then thrown into the brew-house copper — score 5
3. It was chopped into many little pieces by the servant girl using a large axe in the yard — score 3
4. It was cut into pieces by a servant — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 4 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 1249, line 17: «"Hewn" is an old word for cut down with an axe.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «cut down» (+3); the same thing acted on «old word» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓

With reference to the passage, what was Basmus's occupation before his remarkable absence?

1. He was a miller — no support
2. A sailor — no support
3. He was a smith — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score -2
4. A fisher — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score -2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 1623, line 6: «Who: Christian, a boastful smith who drinks and jokes, is the king's sentry in the church.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. Against it: the same thing acted on «boastful smith» (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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